Re: Gibson les Paul Studio: Granadilo Fretboard to Ebony?
yes, that will work, but the reason i suggested leather dye is because the stewmac stuff is known to rub off after drying...ie it doesn't penetrate deep and stay there.
Ehm, you ARE aware that he Stewmac stuff IS the industry standard leather dye (Fiebing´s Oil Dye to be precise)?
But Psst, come closer: you probably CAN get a small bottle of the same stuff cheaper from a local saddlemaker or riding supply house, and it will last forever and an eternity unless you´re building multiple guitars a month.
I´ve been using it for about 20 years, my master for about 40 years before that, and her father before that. and I haven´t experienced the rubbing off you describe unless it wasn´t left alone long enough or was badly prepared, even on violins and other fretless instruments... you can´t just rub it on and wipe it off like Tru-oil or lemon oil, that´s I think the main mistake that many make. I apply it liberally then let it sit and seep in for at least a day before proceeding to wipe the excess off, after which it sits for at least another day. It´s a bit of overkill timewise, but it almost guarantees perfection.
Note I´m assuming you mean rubbing off in a comparatively short timeframe to the staining. 4-5 years of daily playing will inevitably start to wear the fretboard, and the stained wood is of course worn off first because it´s on top, but I think you know that, too.
As to the inlays: plastic inlays and binding will be stained, but not deeply. The binding can simply be rescraped, and the inlays USUALLY only darken a bit. On MoTO (Pearloid /Fake pearl) this is actually cosmetically awesome because it adds depth to the figure and so enhances the illusion of real pearl, much like staining wood before paiting it makes the figuring go POW. Unfortunately, it will wear off relatively fast, and when the fretboard is degreased dirung construction or conditioned during final setup the solvents will take it right off like it was nothing.
Real pearl and abalone on the other hand are so dense they just laugh at the dye to begin with.
It will NOT penetrate through any hard finish, such as that of a typical strat neck. It WILL however go right through most oil finishes, especially the basic unpolymerized /unwaxed ones.
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If it´s really only the color that bothers you, I would definitely stain it instead of replacing it. 1. becasue replacing it will be almost guaranteed to change the tone, and 2 because replacing it will cost MUCH more. The process boils down to:
multiple hours with a heat gun and blade to remove the old fretboard, then replaning the joint
Installing, slotting, and profiling the new board
replacing the inlays
refretting the guitar.
efinishing the neck or at least touching it up.
A pro refret alone is already a 150-300 dollar affair depending on where you are and how good your luthier is. The rest of the work is about 1,5 times as time consuming, and of course the new fretboard has to come from somewhere, too. So a ballpark figure would be around 5-600 dollars, plus finish work.
Resale value will be instantly destroyed as well if you do this. With the stain it was just a nice dark piece and the discussion is over, resale value kept. Or did anybody ever
really think that ebony is that uniformly black right out of the tree?
